Analyzing Digital Technology Impact on SMEs: Ariel Motor Company

This report explores the impact of digital technology on Ariel Motor Company Ltd, a small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) in the automotive industry. The research employs a mixed-methods approach, combining secondary literature review with primary data collected through questionnaires. The study aims to understand the characteristics of SMEs, explore areas where Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can improve productivity, enhance socio-economic potential, and recommend ways to improve digital technology adoption within the company. Key areas covered include an overview of digital technologies, stages of growth models for technology implementation, factors influencing SME establishment, and the overall impact of digital technologies on business operations and competitiveness. The research identifies challenges faced by Ariel Motor in leveraging digital technologies and suggests strategies for enhancing their digital presence and operational efficiency. The report also addresses ethical considerations in research and data collection.

THE IMPACT OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY ON SMALL AND
MEDIUM ENTERPRISE

Table of Contents
Introduction.............................................................................................................................. 3
LO1: Conducting research methodology......................................................................................3
P1 Producing a research proposal...........................................................................................3
Background of the company.................................................................................................3
Aims..................................................................................................................................... 4
Objectives............................................................................................................................. 4
Research question................................................................................................................ 4
Rationale.............................................................................................................................. 4
Significance of the study.......................................................................................................5
Literature review................................................................................................................... 5
Overview of digital technologies...........................................................................................5
Stages of growth model........................................................................................................6
Factors influencing the establishment of SMEs....................................................................7
Impact of digital technologies...............................................................................................7
Methodology......................................................................................................................... 7
Research outline...................................................................................................................7
Data collection methods and tools........................................................................................7
Sampling and sampling methods..........................................................................................8
P2 Examining research methods..............................................................................................8
LO2: Analysing research methods...............................................................................................9
P3 Conducting secondary and primary research......................................................................9
P4 Applying analytical tools for analysing data.......................................................................12
Reference List........................................................................................................................... 18
Appendices................................................................................................................................ 22
Appendix 1: Questionnaire.....................................................................................................22
Appendix 2: Timeline.............................................................................................................. 24
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Introduction
In this 21st century, most of the people live in the information society where people are needed
to have a technical support that helps to create as well as making demands for information. In
addition to that, the electronic technology and information both of them are equally a reinforcing
phenomenon as well as it is the main key to living in the information society. Nowadays, most of
the time a person deals with a bulk of information as well as tools those are used in terms of
working with the information. Most of the organisation uses the computer system in order to
have their place in the competitive market. The information technology is mainly used as a boost
up for an organisation. In this study, it shows a brief discussion regarding the impact of digital
technology in Ariel Motor. There will be conducting a research methodology and research
methods for investigating. There is the use of both secondary and primary methods for finding
the results. In the last section, there is a showcase of both the outcome of research and the
reflecting concepts for methodologies. The problem which is identified in the study is that how
Ariel Motor is implementing the digital technologies for achieving the goals.
LO1: Conducting research methodology
P1 Producing a research proposal
Background of the company
Ariel Motor Company Ltd is mainly noted as the low-performance vehicle in terms of the motor
vehicle manufacturing company. Ariel Motor company is worldwide famous and they mainly
provide the products of automobile motorcycles. In the company, there are only 19 employees.
The company always put the designs and innovation as their topmost priority in terms of
development. Ariel is now thriving in order to launch some of the unique and fastest motor
vehicles. Ariel remains unique because they produce from bicycle to motorcycle, quadricycle to
the sports car and so on. Moreover, in terms of their services they are giving the best whether it
is advising in the phone calls or in case of rebuilding as well.
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The employees of Ariel have immense knowledge regarding the parts of a vehicle and solve the
problem without any kind of delay. The company mainly focuses on oil changing to building a
new machine the employees are much experienced in them. In addition to that, there is a lot of
competition in the automotive industry thus; the company chooses to be unique for getting the
highest position. Each of the Ariel is mainly built with the help of one technician those are able
to carry the assembly right from the road test along with that the personal sign off. The building
of Ariel can look as well by the customer at the time of building (arielmotor.co.uk, 2017).
Aims
The main aim of the study is to investigate the impact of digital technology on Ariel Motor
Company Ltd.
Objectives
➢ To understand the main characteristics of SMEs in order to develop the company.
➢ To explore some of the areas of SMEs in which the ICT can be helpful in terms of
improving the productivity of Ariel Motor Company Ltd.
➢ To enhance the potentiality of ICT in developing the socio-economic of Ariel Motor
Company Ltd.
➢ To recommend some ways for improving the digital technology in the company for
achieving the goals.
Research question
1. What are the main characteristics of SME’s in Ariel Motor Company Ltd?
2. What is the main impact of ICT upon the SMEs of Ariel Motor Company Ltd?
3. How can the socio-economic be developed in Ariel Motor Company Ltd?
4. What are the ways that can be helpful for improving the digital technology?
Rationale
The main issue that is found Ariel Motor Company is a small company it requires some
involvements of technologies for survival in the competitive market. Moreover, in the
automotive company, there are various types of challenges which are faced on a regular basis.
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The issue is constant because the findings are not done properly and there is a constant challenge
going on in the automotive industry. Moreover, there is not taking any kind of effective measure
in order to find out the impact of digitalisation. In the UK there is around 99.3% of business
accounted in the year 2016. Moreover, there is a turnover of the entire SMEs is around £1.8
trillion and among them, 47% are mainly private sector turnover.
The issue is still going on because the company is not properly focussing on the positive side of
the digital technology. Most of the companies are mainly putting their focus only on the
customer but not on the technology. The companies are required to put their focus on the
implementation of technology. The issue is needed to be put in focus for resolving the problem
and getting a position in the competitive market.
The research sheds light on the importance of digital technology those are helpful for improving
the SMEs. In most of the small companies, there is a requirement of the implementation of
digital technology to be unique from others companies. Moreover, the research sheds lights on
various technologies that will be helpful in terms of making the work easier for the company and
be a unique automotive company in the huge competition. The research will provide an idea
regarding the use of technologies with their pros and cons as well. The research will be helpful in
terms of finding the positive factors those are helpful for making the business in the top position.
Significance of the study
In this study, there is a detailed discussion regarding the impact of the digital technology in
SMEs in terms of making an organisation in the top position in the competitive market. The
study will provide a result for SMEs in terms of using the digital technology to be on the top.
The findings will immensely help for the future researchers those will be willing to conduct a
project on the topic. In addition to that, it will help to emphasis the values of business in terms of
making the organisation a successful in the competition. Moreover, the researcher will get an
immense idea regarding the digital technologies.
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Literature review
Overview of digital technologies
In SMEs, there is an implementation of the new technologies by all the small and medium
enterprises (SMEs), which mainly includes the barriers as well as drivers for taking up the
actions. As per the view of Donnelly et al. (2015, p.440), there is a rapid growth of the
technologies in the small enterprises of business. In the competitive market, most of the
companies are mainly indulged in the era of digitalisation. In order to be on the top in the
competitive market, there is a requirement of being unique and it is done with the help of
technologies.
Stages of growth model
The model is mainly used for the implementation of the technologies for the development of the
SMEs. It is found most of the SMEs are lacking in terms of implementation of the technologies.
Moreover, in whose company they are also lacking from the planning of organisation. In the
view of Díaz-Chao et al. (2015, p.1400), in the models of stages of growth is mainly helpful in
terms of building a level of work for the setting position in the competitive market. In this model,
each of the stages mainly denoted towards the growth of an organisation with the help of
technologies.
The model is helpful in terms of the implementation of technologies for knowing the level of
adoption done in the companies. On the other hand, there are some arguments as well such as the
model sometimes take various complex issues those are creating an effect on the innovation of
an organisation. In the opinion of Du et al. (2013, p.90), the model also assumes that the progress
of firm is mainly basic in terms of using the advanced level of ICT in a linear fashion. In addition
to that, the model will be immensely helpful in terms of providing a proper explanation of the
involvement of past, present as well, as future.
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Figure 1: Stages of growth model
(Source: Díaz-Chao et al. 2015, p.1400)
Factors influencing the establishment of SMEs
National factor - The location of extractive firms mainly depends upon the raw materials those
are required to be found. As per the view of Durkin (2013, p.60), the establishment of SMEs is
mainly dependent upon the areas where the technologies are most suitable for work purpose.
Economic factor - The economics factors are mostly involved in the locations of the industries.
As opined by Eggers et al. (2017, p.300), in the implementation of the technologies in SMEs
there is a requirement of a huge amount of technology for the development of the companies.
Impact of digital technologies
The digital technologies have various impacts upon the SMEs in order to be on the top in the
competitive market. The digital technologies can be helpful in terms of having a unique business
idea to attract more customers to increase their brand image. In the view of Gagliardi (2013,
p.900), the digital technology is mainly set in order to revolutionise for the business operations
for speeding up the business growth. The wave of digitalisation is growing to a huge extent for
making the business in the top position. The digitalisation is provided great effects upon the
SMEs for making the organisation in the top.
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Methodology
Research outline
In this study, there is the selection of positivism in terms of research philosophy, deductive
approach and descriptive designs to provide the correct result of the investigation. As per Hanna
(2016, p.5), the research methods are selected because it shows the relevant results without any
kind of wrong doings.
Data collection methods and tools
In this study, there is the selection of both primary and secondary data collection methods. In the
view of Hashim (2015, p.30), the tool is an important part. There is the use of interview and
inclusion methods for finding the appropriate results of the investigation.
Sampling and sampling methods
In order to find out the results, there is a random selection of the people those are involved in the
SMEs. As per the view of Hau (2015, p.100), the simple random is mainly a statistical
population where each of the members has an equal probability of giving their point of view. It is
selected because in order to find out the results it is selected because it provides the exact results.
Ethical issues
A study fails to gain recognition if it is not conducted by abiding by ethical issue. Primary
quantitative research has to be conducted after getting Consent from participants otherwise it will
lead to legal actions against the surveyor. During this study, consents have been taken firm
respondents and there was no attempt force participant from participating in the survey. The data
that were collected were free from bias. Privacy and confidentiality has been maintained by
abiding by the Data protection Act 1998 (legislation.gov.uk.2017). It can be said that secondary
data were also collected from reliable sources.
Website that was taken from authorised sources. The study has been completed by abiding by
ethical consideration required for a project. Proper keywords have been used for searching
secondary sources. It is quite important to abide by ethical consideration because it might help in
providing validity to a project (Alizadeh and Sipe, 2015, p.36). The participants were properly
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informed about the purpose of the survey so that they are able to understand objective of this
project.
P2 Examining research methods
Research methods are of two types namely: primary and secondary research. Both researchers
are sued for collecting data for a study. It is quite difficult to understand the appropriateness of
these methods. However, both these methods have their own implications. A researcher is
required to identify the pros and cons of these methods before conducting research.
Primary source refers to collecting of data directly from participants. It helps a researcher to
understand opinions of people regarding an issue. In order to conduct this study, the researcher
has collected primary data from employees of Ariel Motors. Primary data has provided scope to
the get direct data from employees (Abed et al. 2015, p.160). In order to conduct quantitative
primary research, the study has asked as set of five questions. It was found that quantitative
primary research has enabled this study to obtain responses from employees regarding
importance of digital technology in their organisation. However, quantitative method has some
limitation in regards to obtaining viewpoints of the participants. Quantitative methods of data
collection require maximum time and it also requires large sum of capital. On the other hand,
qualitative primary method of data collection helps a study to get proper viewpoints of the
participants. It might help a study to be conducted in a more reliable manner. This study has
conducted interview with human resource managers of Ariel motors. This type of methods has
enabled this study to gain relevance. Interviews are able to resolve issues that are associated with
a study.
Secondary research is conducted by collecting data from secondary sources like books, journals
and websites. As opined by Aboelmaged (2014, p.650), secondary methods is less time
consuming and can be gathered with less capital. However, in order to collect data from
secondary sources, ethical considerations are to be made. Data needs to be collected from
reliable websites otherwise it might pose a challenge to successful completion of a study. It can
be recommended that secondary data can only be taken from government recognised websites. In
order to conduct this study, journals or articles have only taken from reliable and government
authorised websites.
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LO2: Analysing research methods
P3 Conducting secondary and primary research
In order to conduct this study, data has been collected from primary as well as secondary
sources. The researcher has tried to conduct survey for collecting primary data. The researcher
has tried to conduct secondary research for qualitative research. It has been found that both these
methods have enabled researchers to understand the implication of digital technology in Ariel
motors (arielmotor.co.uk. 2017). Ariel Motors is a small car manufacturing company in UK and
it is trying to find out the extent to which use of digitalisation could create impact over the
performance of this company.
During the survey, the researcher has prepared a set of 5 questions and these were asked to 20
employees of Ariel Ltd.
Quantitative Research
Q1) Do you have any idea regarding digitisation?
Options No of responses Total respondents Response percentage
No 5 20 25
Yes 15 20 75
Table 1: idea regarding digitisation
(Source: self-created)
Q2) Do you agree that digitisation will increase your work efficiency?
Options No of responses Total respondents Response percentage
Agree 8 20 40
Strongly agree 4 20 20
Neutral 3 20 15
Disagree 3 20 15
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Strongly disagree 2 20 10
Table 2 : Impact of digitalisation on work efficiency
(Source: self-created)
Q3) Is technology able to make performance of employees better?
Options No of responses Total respondents Response percentage
May be 5 20 25
Of course 13 20 65
Not sure 3 20 15
Table 3: Influence of digitalisation on Performance
(Source: self-created)
Q4) Do you think that your company needs to install new technology?
Options No of responses Total respondents Response percentage
I don’t think so 2 20 20
Yes 13 20 65
Probably 5 20 15
Table 4: Need for technology
(Source: self-created)
Q5) Do you need training for using new technologies?
Options No of responses Total respondents Response percentage
Of course 15 20 75
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yes 3 20 15
May be 2 20 20
Table 5: Training needs
(Source: self-created)
Qualitative Research
In order to conduct a qualitative research, the researcher has conducted an interview with one if
the 2 HR managers at Ariel Ltd.
Q1) what are your opinions regarding installation of technology into your firm?
Manager 1 “I think that with globalisation, it is quite
important to install new technologies for
enhancing growth of a firm. I am intended to
introduce new technological tools for
manufacturing our cars. ”
Manager 2 “ I feel that technology is a vital aspect of
today’s business and I am of the viewpoint
that technology is going to make our work
easier. However we need spent huge sum of
capital for installation of technology.”
Table 6: Opinions regarding technology installation
(Source: self-created)
Q2) What will be your strategies for implementing digitalisation?
Manager 1 “I wanted to communicate implication of
technology among my employee. After
installation, strategy will be to train staffs
regarding use of new technologies.”
Manager 2 “I need to update skills of my staff and try to
motivate them. New technology need to be
use in an effective manner otherwise it might
prove unfruitful.”
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